Start gathering your donations, our 20th Annual Tag Sale is just two days away, this Saturday, September 9, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Join the fun, socialize with your neighbors, and find a bargain that you just can’t resist. The proceeds of this year’s tag sale will pay for lighting fixtures in the dark alley on the north side of the Center, between Carmelita and Scott streets. Last year, the Tag Sale paid for a fresh coat of paint for the equipment in the playground and replacing two rusting slides in the playground.

We started collecting donations on Tuesday, 5:30-7 p.m., at the white rental truck parked in the park near the Photo Center and will continue accepting through Friday. You can also drop off donation items on Saturday morning before 9 a.m. Here’s a short list of items that can be donated: books, videos, clothes, linens, kitchen items, baskets, decorative, seasonal, sporting goods, toys, collectibles, and more. Please note that furniture will not be accepted.

Volunteers are always needed on the day of the Tag Sale: to help set up at 7 a.m.; salespeople for either the 9-11:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. shifts; and, a recycle and breakdown crew from 1-2:30 p.m. This event is always fun for the whole family and there are always irresistible bargains. Save the date and plan on participating in the fun! If you have any questions, would like to volunteer, or need help getting your donations to the Tag Sale, please e-mail Rosie at rose@friendsofdubocepark.org or at Doug at doug@friendsofdubocepark.org.

NEXT VOLUNTEER DAY SATURDAY OCTOBER 14

Join the Friends of Duboce Park at our next volunteer day on Saturday, October 14, from 10 a.m.-noon. Since our normal volunteer day in September would be on the same days as the Tag Sale, we are cancelling the September date.

Last month, 20 volunteers refurbished the small planting bed between the basketball court and the playground with colorful pollinator plants. A new tree was also planted there and this “triangle” will complement the other pollinator beds in the playground and Pierce Street planting circle. We also did some weeding and pruning in the planting beds just outside the Photo Center.

Contact rose@friendsofdubocepark.org or 415-255-8370 for more information or with any questions or comments. Our volunteer day is always the second Saturday of every month. 30 minutes or an hour of your time makes a big difference in the appearance of our park. Volunteers gave more than 187,000 hours of their time and energy to improving our 225 parks and recreation facilities in 2016.

39 CLASSES STARTING AT REC CENTER IN SEPTEMBER

Registration for Rec & Park fall classes and programs began August 5 for Fall Activities and Classes. There are almost 1,500 activities to choose from this fall, including 39 classes at the Harvey Milk Recreation Center for the Arts and 50 photography courses in the Photo Center. The complete catalogue of classes is available online or you can pick up the 122-page catalogue in the lobbies of the Rec Center and Photo Center.

This month we are featuring classes that are for youth between 7-14 years old. If your young one wants to learn to act, there is the Tween and Teen Theater – HMCA Junior Acting Troupe, starting September 12 and Youth Theater – So You Think You Can Act, starting September 20. If there is an interest in dance, there are two dance classes starting on September 11: HMCA Hip Hop Dance Crew and HMCA Youth Dance Ensemble.

Recreation and Parks offers Recreation Scholarships to eligible individuals and families. More than $1 million in scholarships in Rec and Parks programs has been provided. Ongoing eligibility is dependent on attendance record. Please call Lillian Bautista, Scholarship Coordinator, at (415) 831-2717 for information on how to qualify.

MAINTENANCE UPDATE

The grass in the Dog Play/Multi-Use Area (DPA) has always been a problem to maintain due to the extremely heavy use the area gets. Rec and Park has started a turf rehabilitation project this month that will require fencing off a portion of the grass and leaving the fence up for a few months, according to Michelle Pallavicini, acting Park Services Manager,

Rec and Park will aerate, grade, seed and fertilize the top, western portion of the DPA. Once that area has settled and stabilized, the fence will be removed and the process will be repeated in the remaining section of the DPA. Doing all of the work at one time would require completely closing the entire DPA, so the plan is to do it in sections to ensure there will always be an open space to play in.

A huge area of grass is almost completely gone around the bench across from the playground, leaving bare dirt. This seems to be a cyclical problem with green grass (and weeds) appearing during and after the rainy season and brown dirt during the dry months.

Worn areas of the rubber surfaces of the Playground and Youth Play Area were filled using colors that contrast with the original colors and have a very irregular shape. We have requested more geometrically-shaped repairs, i.e., all rectangles and/or circles, and colors that match.

According to Pallavicini, Rec and Park has “a severe shortage of the rubber product for about six months, so many of the safety priority repairs were dealt with first and with what product they had left in store. Many of the parks in the system are exhibiting the same wear patterns as Duboce…the (maintenance) yard has received a new supply of rubber product and they are making their way around to all the facilities to get these repairs accomplished. As for the irregular patterning… yes, we are pushing along a more uniformed neutral aesthetic…I have work orders for repairs in process.”

Friends of Duboce Park purchased a new bulletin board to replace the one that one was vandalized for the fourth time on May 7…Graffiti remains a constant problem and Rec and Park does a good job of removing it within 24-48 hours of receiving a report. All of the problems listed above were reported on the SF311 app or in an email report to Rec and Park. You can always also just dial 311 rather than using the app or email.

STAFF AND MEMBER SHOW AT PHOTO CENTER

The Annual Staff, Members & Volunteers Exhibit continues at the Harvey Milk Photo Center through October 7. The show offers a current look at what is being created in the darkrooms and digital labs at the Photo Center by their staff, members, and volunteers. This exciting exhibit encompasses a wide and exciting subject matter, including wet plate photography, film, alternative process, and digital imagery. Gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 3 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m., closed on Monday and Friday.

The Photo Lecture Series continues on Thursday September 14, 6-8 p.m. with three artists in attendance to display and discuss their work. Artist names and statements will be announced soon. The Photo Center is looking for artists to present their work in their Photo Lecture Series that is held every few months. Please email them at harveymilkphotocenter@gmail.com with a short bio and a link to your work for them to review. Please put “Photo Lecture Series” as the subject of your email! This is a great opportunity to get feedback on your work and share your photos with the community!

ONE-DAY FALL PHOTO CLASSES STARTING IN SEPTEMBER

Fall 2017 photography classes begin this month at the Harvey Milk Photo Center and include five one-day classes that will be held outdoors. You will learn to elevate your photography skills with both technical and artistic approaches that go beyond tourist snapshots and selfies. The instructor will cover composition, depth of field, panning, movement blue, and over-exposure. As you shoot, there will be on-going discussions about determining good locations, good light, street activity, architecture, etc.

Be sure and check the requirements and prerequisites. You will need a digital SLR camera and the ability to use it the manual mode. A variety of lenses, a light tripod, extra batteries and CF or SF cards are recommended. The complete class schedule and description of all of the courses is listed online or you pick up the full catalogue of courses at the Center. Don’t hesitate to call the Photo Center at (415) 554-9522 with any questions.

FINAL FREE SUMMER MUSIC EVENTS IN SF PARKS

The summer music season in San Francisco parks is winding down with a lot of free music in September and October.

The 135th season of theGolden Gate Park Bandcontinues through October 8. Free concerts are held on Sundays, beginning at 1 p.m., in the Spreckels Temple of Music (aka The Bandshell) at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park. The GGP Band has been performing free public concerts in GGP since 1882. Upcoming shows this month include Irish singing and dancing on September 17, Spanish dancing on September 24, Jazz at the Park on October 1, and the final concern on October 8. More information is available here.

Saturday in the Park McLarenoffers three more free concerts in the Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre in McLaren Park: Latin & Jazz on September 9, 1-4 p.m.; San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, Sunday October 15; and McLaren Park Metal Music Festival on October 21. Details are here.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass runs for three days, Friday October 3 through Sunday October 8 in Golden Gate Park. The free event features over 100 musical artists on seven stages. Check their website for updated schedules and performers.

PARKS IN THE NEWS

San Francisco turned on the plumbing system for Vaillancourt Fountain on the Embarcadero. It was turned off by Rec and Park in 2014 because of the drought and has been turned back on as a test. Phil Ginsburg, general manager, said the test is open-ended and will stay on until the installation of the annual holiday ice skating rink in November. The fountain debuted in 1977.

Continuing safety problems in Dolores Park came to a head on August 3 when three people were shot during broad daylight on the pedestrian bridge near Church and 19th streets. District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy convened a community safety meeting on August 21 at Dolores Park Church, attended by about 100 people, to discuss concerns about crime in the park. Police Chief William Scott said the shooting is believed to be gang related but no suspects have been taken into custody. Since the shooting, police officers are in the park seven days a week, which has resulted in a “dramatic reduction” in theft, graffiti, and gang activity, according to Ginsburg. Many who spoke at the meeting expressed concerns about what they see as a rising tide of vagrancy, hard-drug sales, and violent activity that is spilling into the adjacent Mission and Castro neighborhoods.

Over 200,00 fans descended on Golden Gate Park on August 11-13 to enjoy live shows on eight stages, gourmet food, and drinks at the 2017 Outside Lands. The featured groups were Metallica, Gorillaz, and the Who. A few acts cancelled, some at the last minute, forcing the organizers of the San Francisco festival to think quickly. Some people complainted about the lack of females in acts this year.

The Planning Commission approved a proposal for the Pier 70 complex that calls for 1,100 to 2,150 units of housing and 1.1 to 2 million square feet of office space on the 28-acre site. Nine acres of new parks are included in the plan, including a waterfront green space that will extend the Bay Trail along 1,300 feet of shoreline. $442 million is being spent in parks and infrastructure. Pier 70 is a long-closed shipbuilding facility.

MCKINLEY ELEMENTARY KICK OFF CELEBRATION

Join the Shared Schoolyard Project and Supervisors Jeff Sheehy and Mark Farrell at McKinley Elementary School on Saturday, September 23rd from 11a.m.-1 p.m. for an exciting kick-off event marking the grand re-opening of the schoolyard for public use on weekends. The event will include games and activities for the whole neighborhood, free lunch and a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The Shared Schoolyard Project is a partnership between the City of San Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School District, and San Francisco’s neighborhoods and communities that envisions and provides for a place for children and families to play and gather within walking distance of every child in San Francisco.

Currently, over 40 public schools citywide are enrolled in the Shared Schoolyard Project. The Shared Schoolyard Project is working to enroll all of San Francisco’s public schools, so that every child and family in San Francisco can have a clean and safe place to play and gather on the weekends. For more information, click here.

JOIN FRIENDS OF DUBOCE PARK

Annual Membership dues for a Supporting Member are $25 per person and entitle you to voting privileges and participation in the governance of the organization. Your dues help cover the few costs we have, such as our website, newsletter, movie nights, and insurance.

Your tax deductible membership is gratefully accepted and should be sent to Friends of Duboce Park, 79 Scott Street, San Francisco, CA 94117. Friends of Duboce Park are a 501(c)(3) organization. General Membership is still available at no cost but does not carry any voting privileges. Another way to show your support is by getting involved. If you are interested, please contact President Doug Woo at doug@friendsofdubocepark.org.